


In a Breathless Peace

by SuchFun_AreWe



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst and Feels, M/M, Not Beta Read, Pre-Slash, Purgatory, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-23
Updated: 2014-04-23
Packaged: 2018-01-20 13:43:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1512644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuchFun_AreWe/pseuds/SuchFun_AreWe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean never expected that Purgatory could be beautiful.</p><p>It felt pure, yes, but that purity was one of blood and blade and adrenaline. It was purity borne from the black and white rules of survival. Live at all costs. Do what you must. No middle ground, no ethical quandaries, no doubt. Pure kill or be killed. Simple. Tidy.</p><p>But this? This was different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In a Breathless Peace

Dean never expected that Purgatory could be beautiful.

It felt pure, yes, but that purity was one of blood and blade and adrenaline. It was purity borne from the black and white rules of survival. Live at all costs. Do what you must. No middle ground, no ethical quandaries, no doubt. Pure kill or be killed. Simple. Tidy.

But this? This was different.

Dean and Cas had found themselves in a rare moment of calm. Benny was on guard while the two men caught a few minutes of rest, tucked within a semi-protected nook formed by some shattered boulders and a sheer rock face rising overhead. A gray, twisted corpse of trees edged the meadow of dry grass before them. Your typical Purgatory landscaping, basically- heavy on the dead plants and minus any normal forest sounds or sunlight.

And then that changed.

Dean noticed the light, first. The normally steely gray sky began to look warmer, taking on a lovely dusty rose cast. The world around them sprung into a new clarity as velvety shadows unfurled over the land. The world went from its usual flat, two dimensional planes of misty gray to something fuller. More real. Kinder, almost. From the tree line a bird called, tentative. So quiet and unsure that Dean was positive he’d imagined it. How the hell could there be *birds* in Purgatory? The hunter tilted his head, waiting. The quiet trill came again, stronger now. After a heavy pause, the call was shyly returned from deeper within the gnarled, half dead woodland.

Huh. Birds then. Who’d have thought?

Dean glanced to his left, wanting to silently ask Cas if he was also noticing this strange little pocket of gentleness they’d stumbled upon in an otherwise utterly savage world. One look at the angel and his heart leapt, lodging itself firmly somewhere in the vicinity of his collarbones. The hunter swallowed hard and stared, unable to help himself. Cas was loveliness personified, even dirty and bruised and unshaven. His head was tilted to the wall behind him, his throat a smooth arc of tanned skin. His blue eyes were bright with that new, unusual rosy light and it skimmed over his face, painting his cheekbones and brow with strokes of soft, flattering color.

Feeling the weight of Dean’s regard, Cas angled his head slightly and met his eyes, favoring him with a small fond smile. They didn’t speak. The world around them held its breath and so they followed suit, Dean not wanting to do anything to ruin this tiny pocket of peace they’d been given. Cas shifted his weight slightly, moving deeper into Dean’s personal space as if drawn there. The hunter was suddenly aware of all the places where their bodies now pressed flush. He could feel the heat of contact at his knee, hip, shoulder… palm. Cas took his hand, gently but deliberately lacing their fingers together.

Dean smiled, giving a small squeeze and then leaned more heavily into Cas’ side. The worn out hunter took a moment to breathe, to relax, to be comforted by the other man’s presence. To just relish the warm solidity of Cas after all those months spent fighting to find him. He took these few stolen seconds of calm, a cove of warm water in an otherwise choppy and dangerous sea. Cas gave his hand a returning squeeze and let their fingers fall away. He shifted back to a socially acceptable distance and his body regained its usual thrum of alert tension. As their bodies separated, the hushed peace that had found them began to break down.

As suddenly as it had begun, the moment was over.

First the bird song cut off, there and then sharply gone. The breathless calm broke apart as the held inhale was released. The warmth ran out of the sky. First the rose faded to a pearly platinum, shadows fading as the light waned. All gentleness bled out and disappeared, eaten up by the malevolent energy of Purgatory. In a few heartbeats, the landscape had gone misty and indistinct. The sky an ominous and freezing metallic gray once more. The world around them again two dimensional - harsh and hungry.

Dean sighed and walked from the small hollow, glancing at Cas as he swung into the gray brown grass of the field. Back into the fray, then. So close now to the portal, so close to home. Grab Benny and keep moving.

Cas followed Dean, a few steps behind. He curled his fingers into his palm, recalling the warm press of Dean’s skin against his own. Fighting to shut down his emotions, his desires, so that letting the other man go would be possible without rending himself into pieces. Willing himself to be strong and not fail. For once. He was tired, worn out. His angelic battery dangerously low. Still, he was grateful for the aching heavy feeling in his body, pleased despite how weak and human it made him feel.

So thankful that, even in this dark place, he’d found enough Grace left to give Dean a proper goodbye.


End file.
